#hourlynerd

Based in Boston, HourlyNerd is the leading software helping businesses generate differential outcomes when facing ad-hoc challenges and opportunities using the power of data. HourlyNerd leverages a technology-driven delivery model to create a new market for readily available elite expertise with client-friendly pricing structures and data-vetted, market-tested quality. HourlyNerd’s network boasts over 15,000 independent experts, including top MBAs, elite business advisors, and industry experts from leading corporations, serves more than 8,000 companies, ranging from startups and small business up to nearly 10% of the Fortune 1000.

HourlyNerd is a marketplace that connects businesses with independent consultants for project-based work-- what does that mean exactly?

The nature of work is fundamentally changing, and the evidence is everywhere you look. The freelance economy is booming – it’s clear that people want more control over their lives. One’s job needn’t dominate one’s existence any longer. Relatedly, technology,  is enabling people to connect like never before, which has fueled the hyper growth of the on-demand economy. Our business model plays into both those themes. At HourlyNerd we’ve built software that connects elite business consultants with companies of all sizes. Every day we’re helping businesses tackle challenges using the power of data, we’re enabling our consultants to work on their terms.

HourlyNerd arose from a team section competition at HBS. At what point did you realize that this had the potential to be a real business and not just a school project?

The first light switch really went off when we went out to the streets of Cambridge and Boston and started talking to potential customers. While the responses were varied, it was clear there was a need for what we were offering and that SMBs would be willing to engage. Their current solution of leveraging a friend or doing something themselves when a project arose was highly ineffective.

The second light switch went off when got exposure to the HBS executive education program. We had the opportunity to pitch dozens of leaders from growing, typically multinational businesses, and the response was incredibly positive. It was at this moment we realized there was a need far beyond the traditional SMB market, and that sophisticated business leaders were starving for high quality, on-demand talent.

I've read that you cold called Mark Cuban at a point when you were considering going on Shark Tank. What did you say (or make him believe) to convince him to basically invest on the spot?

We actually cold emailed him, a cold call would have been an entirely different level of bravado. The note we sent Mark was brief, but included what we felt was the necessary information to wet his appetite: who we were as founders, the pain point we were addressing, the compelling market size, and that our offering is unique – no one else is doing what we’re doing. When he responded I honestly thought someone was playing a prank on us given he got back to us so quickly with such a positive response. He responded with a bunch of follow-up questions and from there we were off to the races. I’m thankful every day that Mark took the time to read and respond to a cold email from a bunch of first-time entrepreneurs currently in school.

HourlyNerd was started by four non-technical co-founders. How did you go about growing a tech team and culture as you built out your marketplace? What advice do you have for someone non-technical looking to join a tech startup?

I’d by lying if I said it was easy. It was really f’ing hard. It took us two rounds of investor capital and a significant amount of traction for us to convince our CTO to join (who has been a god-send). Two things made the process very difficult. The first is that we had very little idea what we were looking for and how to evaluate engineering talent. The second was that non-technical founders carry a stigma that tends to keep strong technical folks away, for whatever reason. It was only once we convinced institutional VCs that we were solving a problem worth solving, and we raised a Series A, that the technical community started to take us seriously.

My advice to a non-technical founder is to leverage your network to every extent possible when seeking technical folks. Our CTO ultimately came in through our network, and it’s critical to lean on network connections for introductions, help evaluating tech talent and help in selling tech talent to join your company.

When it comes to growing a tech team, it’s been very important that we make it abundantly clear that we are a technology company first, and the way we’re going to win is with superior technology. That tech emphasis not only attracts great engineers but forces employees on the business side to view everything through the lens of technology. Lastly, we continue to try to solve really hard problems in our space with technology, which tends to attract the brightest engineers who are always seeking that unsolvable challenge.

MBAs bring with them a preconceived notion of aptitude and capability. Given that your marketplace is mainly comprised of MBA students, how do you look to expand that going forward as demand continues to grow--- do you allow other backgrounds into your supply of talent?

It’s a great question, and one we think about a lot. As an MBA myself, I understand that there is a limit to the business expertise that comes with an MBA. Many of our clients are looking for data scientists, as well as other more technical experts, which we have already begun building into our network, which now comprises over 15,000 people and is incredibly deep and diverse. We also recently hired a Director of Supply to help us better understand how to build our network in a way that is consistent with our clients needs. From an expansion standpoint, we’ve deliberately chosen to play in the arena of business consulting, and intend to remain there for the time being, because that market alone is massive and we’re only in the early innings of penetrating it. That said, we continue to round out our skill base to ensure we’re able to staff basically anything that resembles a business consulting project. 

If you weren't growing HourlyNerd which other startup would you love to work at? Why?

As a sports fanatic, I think Gametime, which is an app for last minute sports tickets, is a very cool business.  It’s also attempting to disrupt a market that’s occupied by an incumbent (StubHub) that hasn’t innovated much lately and gouges customers on price, so it’s a worthy endeavor.

If you could combine two existing, but unrelated startups to make something totally ridiculous, what would they be?

Drizly and LeanBox, a vending machine for booze!

What's your favorite social media handle/account to follow?

Biz: TechCrunch; Sports: Bill Simmons. Chubbies Instagram handle is pretty fantastic too.

Lastly, I have to ask, who came up with the name HourlyNerd?